


Together

by valis2



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drama, First Time, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-30
Updated: 2010-04-30
Packaged: 2017-10-09 09:45:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/85850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valis2/pseuds/valis2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick tries to drown his sorrows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together

**Author's Note:**

> Written while waiting for my car to get repaired. A very quick little bit o' first time angsty fluff.

Nick wipes his hands on a rag and surveys Mimi's engine with a practiced eye. Her carburetor is nearly finished, the stripped screws drilled out and replaced. New filters and new bearings gleam. Another hundred-hour checklist finished. He wonders how many she's already had, wonders again at what she saw during the war, and then he closes the hood and latches it.

A short, brisk walk back to the _Riptide_. Cody's not back yet from his date with his latest girl, and Murray's gone somewhere with the Roboz, so it's just him. He scrubs with Lava soap, gets rid of the grease under his fingernails.

Cody probably won't be home until the wee hours, so Nick eats some leftover pizza and drinks a couple beers. The new girl--Maureen--is moving out of the early stages. Cody's infatuated, his heart on his sleeve, but sooner or later she'll make a move and he'll clam up and run away. Nick almost wishes he could set her straight, but it'll do no good. If he knew how to get past Cody's defenses, he'd do it himself.

It takes an hour of staring at the sky to get past that thought.

The harbor is quiet tonight. Nick isn't the kind to sit in navel-gazing contemplation much; usually he cleans, tinkers with something, takes apart a gun. But there's something melancholy in his heart tonight, something brought on by the adoring smiles of half a dozen of Cody's recent girlfriends, something that aches when he tries to ignore it. He skips the beer and goes for the gin.

Murray calls and says he's spending the night in Pasadena, and Nick congratulates him. He can feel the blush, even through the phone. He hangs up and takes another swig from the bottle. It's not even eleven yet; he has plenty of time to drown his sorrows and then pass out, the better to escape his thoughts.

Only once before did he feel such a strong pull toward a guy. Bobby Hensen's face floats up into his memory, along with the indelible image of him stepping on a land mind. There was no time for goodbye.

The room spins a little, and he lies down on the bench seat, not bothering to wipe away the tears. On nights like these, the ghosts swarm out of him, haunting the _Riptide_, smoking and shoving and swearing, and Nick closes his eyes but it makes no difference. Steely's arguing with Lenny, and Bobby's sarcastic, syrup-thick drawl cuts through everything, even his own heart, and he shakes, trying to block out the smell of cheap cigarettes and sweat.

"Nick?"

He realizes that this voice is real, and that it's Cody, and he opens his eyes, the phantom soldiers melting away into nothing. "Hey," he manages to say. He's aware that his cheeks are wet and scrubs his face with the back of his hand, using the other to push himself upright. The room spins harder and he winces.

Cody's next to him, hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Sure." Nick lets his hand drop to his side. Cody looks pale and upset, his eyes locked and barred, and he realizes that Maureen must have tried to force Cody to take their relationship to the next level. "What happened?"

Cody sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "She dumped me." He doesn't offer anything else.

"Sorry, man." He feels sick, his stomach cramping. He puts his head down on his arm, feeling detached from the entire scene, as if he's watching it from afar.

"C'mon," says Cody urgently, tugging at his arm and leading him to the head.

The gin comes up, predictable enough, and he feels acutely miserable, except for Cody's hand on his lower back. He throws up until he can't imagine there's anything left. "I'm never eating pizza again."

Cody hands him a glass of water and he rinses his mouth. "Sure. C'mon, bed." Nick nods, weary down to his bones, and lets Cody steer him to their stateroom. He pulls off his shirt and unbuttons his jeans, and the room starts to tilt. Cody curses and grabs him, pushing him down to the bunk, and helps strip off his jeans. Cody's pulling the covers up over his shoulder and staring at him with worry in his eyes, and Nick feels awful, wanting to wipe that look away from Cody forever. Everything goes dim, and then he's pulled down into the dark of sleep.

A sound wakes him. He frowns, blinks. Cody. Crying. He's out of his bunk before his next breath. "Wake up," he says. "Just a dream." He shakes his shoulder gently.

In the dim light Cody looks even more beautiful than ever. Then he realizes that Cody's eyes are open and staring at him. Not a dream bothering him, then. The breakup.

"It'll be okay," he says lamely, and then sits back on his heels. Cody's hand shoots out and grabs his wrist. "Cody?"

Cody's off the bunk and he pulls Nick into his arms, holding him tightly, and starts sobbing again, saying something unintelligible.

"It's okay," soothes Nick, rocking him gently. "There'll be..." He bites his lip, feeling a rush of misery. Other girls. And no end to the ache in his heart.

Cody's nearly inconsolable now, sobbing into his neck, and Nick just holds him, hating the sound of Cody's sadness. "It'll be fine," whispers Nick. "Love you." The words slip out before he can even think about them.

Cody's sobs taper off and he pulls away a little, resting his forehead lightly against Nick's. This is new. Nick freezes, uncertain. Cody nuzzles his cheek, the cool wet of his tears sliding across his skin. "You really mean that?" he says softly.

For a moment Nick can't breathe, can't even think. On the surface, it's something they've said before, but he knows Cody too well, knows that he knows exactly what he means. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah. Yes. I've always--I wanted--"

"Shh." Cody kisses him on the neck, and suddenly Nick is wide awake, trembling, holding onto Cody for dear life. A hand on his shoulder blade, dipping lower, across the bare skin of the small of his back, then gliding over his ass.

"Cody--maybe we shouldn't--" Thoughts are jumbled together, and Nick is frightened that it's a dream, that Cody might be touching his dream ass and not his real ass, that Cody will never know how he feels.

"You don't want this?" asks Cody, drawing back a little. His eyes are dark and hard to read in the dim light.

Nick swallows hard. "Since when do _you_ want this?" A headache begins to pound just behind his eyes.

"Since always. Since the first time I saw you." Cody licks his lips, looking nervous and relieved and excited all at the same time.

"You never said."

"_You_ never said. And you were with Bobby. Afterward, it didn't seem...right."

"You've been...all the girls..."

"I like them, too. But it just isn't...they aren't _you_, Nick."

Nick closes his eyes, exhaling. "This isn't...I didn't..." A wave of heat passes over him.

"I know it's unexpected." Cody's voice is gentle, sweet in his ears.

"I don't feel good." Nick struggles to take in enough air. The room is closing in on him. He takes a deep breath and then another, and Cody makes him sit down. There's a concerned look on Cody's face as he gently rubs his back, and Nick feels the anxiety begin to recede.

"Just breathe." Cody's hand is comforting, and Nick nods, enjoying the rasp of his calluses across his skin.

"I thought this would never happen." His voice cracks a little, and he rubs his eyes, trying to understand what's happening.

"It just was never the right time." Cody sounds so reasonable that Nick blinks. "I've been running away from y--these feelings for a long time, Nick. And tonight...I finally realized that I had to try. Us. I mean, I had to tell you. But then you were drunk..."

"You were going to..." Nick stares at him.

"And then I got worried that you might not want...us." Cody takes his right hand into his own and turns it over, fingers sliding across his palm. "Do you?"

"Yes."

"Things could get pretty strange around here."

"Yes."

"I don't want to share you with anyone else, either. It's just us."

"Yes."

"We'll have to be careful..."

"Yes."

Cody presses a kiss to his cheek, and it feels so natural and perfect and so very real that Nick's stomach flips. "We'll take it slow at first."

Nick closes his fingers around Cody's and pulls him close. "Whatever you want, Cody, whenever you want. Love you. For always." He feels Cody tremble in his arms.

"Well, so much for taking it slow," murmurs Cody, his breath stirring his hair.


End file.
